I know it's not what you asked, but if the players are new to PFS, I'd stick to First Steps. I know you might have seen the First Steps adventures one too many times, but they really are a great intro for new people to PFS. You meet the faction heads, go on an RP focused city adventure, dungeon crawl, and wilderness trek, and they're just enough adventures to hit level 2.

Of course, if it's just new PCs for players who already know PFS, then they're not as essential.

As for good level 1 adventures, I'd say The Infernal Vault from season 0 was pretty good. We Be Goblins is always fun, too, though the players don't get to play their own PCs.

I'd highly recommend avoiding part 1 of The Devil We Know from season 1 with first level characters. The tier 1-2 on that one is just a little too tough at first level.

Leftenant Meunier, if they were all 1s in GMG, only being nearly TPK'd means the DM was pulling a lot of punches or they were a crew of freaks ;)

So, here's a schedule that lets you treat PFS like a coherent campaign with an urban/Absalom theme, focused on the Society and Absalom rather than the tomb-robbing fun, with some side quests (Note that I've not played the capstone modules from level 9 up so the order might be screwy)... but it seems like a good PC career track that focuses on being Absalomite agents, then getting sent into the field once problems get "big enough":

Not sure about God's Market for first levels. We had a level 1 table nearly TPKed by that thing not long ago.

I liked Frostfur Captives as a first level module. Silent Tide is a decent one for that purpose too. Mists of Mwangi can work nicely too.

I was going to suggest The Frostfur Captives as well, except the cold weather rules are more than I would go for new players.

However, your observation about GMG sounds like an argument FOR running it through new players. :) I played it at Space City Con and then ran it at my FLGS. Both times we had mid-tier parties that chose to play up. Both times managed all encounters without any casualties.

Silent Tide: Good for a 1st mission.
Citadel of Flame
Decline of Glory: Slightly hard but good.
We Be Goblins: A fun no-risk way to level a 1st level PC.

Some of the other suggested scenarios and modules have resulted in TPKs and deaths, I'm not sure if you're into that. For instance Master of the Fallen Fortress has wiped out many new players to PFS, I'm not even sure why it's used. God's Market Gamble will eat a bunch of new ungeared PCs and spit them out (unless there's major fudging).

We kill far too many new players these days in PFS, it's going to hurt the game in the long run. Some GMs think it's funny or desirable, not sure why.

If this is their first game, 1st Steps or Silent Tide is a really good idea.

Citadel of Flame
Decline of Glory: Slightly hard but good.
We Be Goblins: A fun no-risk way to level a 1st level PC.

Some of the other suggested scenarios and modules have resulted in TPKs and deaths, I'm not sure if you're into that. For instance Master of the Fallen Fortress has wiped out many new players to PFS, I'm not even sure why it's used. God's Market Gamble will eat a bunch of new ungeared PCs and spit them out (unless there's major fudging).

We kill far too many new players these days in PFS, it's going to hurt the game in the long run. Some GMs think it's funny or desirable, not sure why.

If this is their first game, 1st Steps or Silent Tide is a really good idea.

That last is one of the concerns that led to my schedule of birth-to-retirement, AP style...

Leftenant Meunier, if they were all 1s in GMG, only being nearly TPK'd means the DM was pulling a lot of punches or they were a crew of freaks ;)

** spoiler omitted **

Ah, that's more than "nearly" into "all-but" territory. Bugout boogie by a sole survivor is definitely a reasonable outcome. Your statement made it sound like my "I don't know how they're getting out of this" at the end of Red Harvest at GenCon. They were nearly TPK'd but ended up escaping entirely!

Red Harvest spell named:

It took them digging deep, but when the cleric is dead and the wizad is feebleminded, you don't pull a punch, and they still pull it out without needing to pay for a raise dead? Yeah, that's "Crew of Freaks" and "career capping moment of awesome" territory >:)

Probably my favorite organized lay campaign GMing session ever. Never seen pathfinders so happy to get a chronicle with 0 prestige on it...

Master of the Fallen Fortress is a personal favorite. Crypt of the Everflame looks good (I plan to run it this weekend for the first time), but I think it's better if the characters have a scenario or two under their belts first. The extra starting gear may make up for the fact that in PFS you don't level up during the module.

Silent Tide was fun, but my group of level 1-2 characters found it to be a pushover combat wise. Frozen Fingers of Midnight was a blast to run, with some great roleplaying, but the final combat turned out to be a little tame, especially compared to the fight in the warehouse.

From personal experience, I can tell you that Frostfur Captives is much better at 1-2 than 4-5 (challenge wise). Roleplay potential is great for both tiers.

Godsmouth Heresy is good, especially when set between City of Strangers parts 1 and 2.

Yeah, Silent Tide in it's current format is only good if it's the 1st adventure for the PCs. The trouble with a lot of scenarios now is that they're too hard if no one has a wand of CLW, which is assumed after your 1st scenario.

+1 to Frostfur Captives. It's great, and runs different for each and every group.

Murder on the Throaty Mermaid is very roleplay-oriented and, every time I've played in or run it, has been a ton of laughs and good times (but has just enough danger that it keeps the PCs on their toes).

I have a related question (that's close enough so I think it fits on this thread) -

Say I'm running a game for someone's birthday (I love having gamer friends) later this week, subtier 1-2. Other than Throaty Mermaid, anyone know a good scenario that's full of laughs?